This invention relates to an openable motor vehicle roof.
One conventional, generic motor vehicle roof is disclosed in DE 35 04 573 A1. A slide a raising lever can be moved forward, on the one hand, out of a closed position in order to raise the lever and thus the cover, and, on the other hand, can be moved to the rear in order likewise to raise the lever and thus the cover. In the latter case, at the same time, the cover is pushed to the rear by means of a second slide which is mounted in the area of the front end of the cover. When the first slide which is connected to the raising lever has reached its end position, it is automatically locked tight to the roof, while the displacement motion of the cover is continued by means of the second slide which is directly driven by a drive cable until the cover has reached its end position. In doing so, the first crank pin of the cover slides forward in the roof-mounted crank path which runs parallel to the cover, by which the cover continues to be raised during displacement. This construction disadvantageously requires two driven slides, specifically one for the front edge of the cover and one for the raising lever.
Published European Patent Application No. 543 427 B1 (U.S. Pat. No. 5,288,125) discloses a motor vehicle roof in which the raising lever for the cover is actuated by the roof-mounted crank pin being pushed in the crank path provided in the raising lever when the latter is being moved.
Published International Patent Application WO 00/06403 discloses a motor vehicle roof in which the raising lever can be moved on a slide which is provided with a crank path. The raising motion of the lever is achieved by the crank pin, provided on the lever, fitting into the crank path of the slide. Furthermore, a second crank pin of the raising lever fits into a cover-mounted crank path. The crank path is designed such that, when the raising lever is moved with respect to the cover, an additional raising motion is caused.
Published German Patent Application DE 43 30 426 A1 and published International Patent Application WO 94/25301 disclose motor vehicle roofs in which there is no raising lever, but only one slide which fits into a cover-mounted crank path which is shaped such that movement of the slide with respect to the cover causes a raising motion of the cover. The disadvantage is that, at a fixed maximum construction height for a relatively large given raising height, the crank path must be placed relatively near the front pivot resulting in minimal supporting action and major effects of tolerance. If this is to be prevented, on the other hand, the construction height should be great.
One object of the present invention is to overcome the disadvantages and shortcomings of the prior art.
The above object along with other objects are achieved by providing an openable motor vehicle roof, comprising at least one cover closing at least part of a roof opening in the closed position, a cover-mounted cover carrier provided with a first crank path, a slide movable in a lengthwise direction of the roof by means of a drive in a first roof-mounted guide channel, and a raising lever pivotally mounted on the slide, a front area of the cover being movably guided in a second roof-mounted guide channel in the lengthwise direction of the roof, wherein a first engagement element, positioned on the raising lever, engages the first crank path and a second engagement element, attached to the raising lever, is movably guided in a third roof-mounted guide channel in the lengthwise direction of the roof to control a raising motion of the raising lever, the cover being raised out of the closed position at its rear edge by moving the slide via the raising lever, the first crank path being shaped such that when the raising lever is not raised, the displacement of the first engagement element in the first crank path causes a raising motion of the cover. Advantageously, the raising action of the cover-mounted crank path and the third cover-mounted guide for the raising lever are added to one another, by which the construction height can be reduced with the same stability; or, with the same construction height, the stability of the support can be increased.